Oxfam America http://www.oxfamamerica.org These are the search results for the query, showing results 1 to 5. OXFAMExchange, Fall 2011 http://www.oxfamamerica.org/publications/oxfamexchange-fall-2011 Africa's last famine? This season the rains have failed throughout much of East Africa—in some areas, triggering the worst drought in 60 years. More than 13 million people are now at risk, 1.8 million Somalis alone have been displaced, and 750,000 people are facing starvation. The chronic cycle of drought and suffering prompts us to ask: What would it take to make this Africa's last famine?

Oxfam's work—whether helping Guatemalan women organize to fight gender violence, funding irrigation projects in Ethiopia, or standing with people in Darfur—is about building the resilience of local communities over the long haul. We cannot prevent shocks, but we can help our sisters and brothers access some of the same resources we have to cushion us when times are lean.

We cannot rush from crisis to crisis with short-term fixes. What more evidence do we need than what is happening in East Africa now? This is not the region's first famine, but imagine the headline: Africa's last famine.

]]> No publisher Oxfam America Darfur East Africa Ethiopia GROW Guatemala Sudan agriculture equality for women farmers food security gender global food crisis humanitarian relief hunger oil, gas and mining violence women 2012-02-13T17:20:33Z Oxfam Exchange Women living with uncertainty and high food prices http://www.oxfamamerica.org/articles/women-living-with-uncertainty-and-high-food-prices The constant rise in the price of staples affects women in El Salvador on a daily basis. With gardens, some women have found a way to ease the burden. Although they are from different generations and live in different parts of the country, Toñita, Ana Elizabeth and Iris have a lot in common: they are women, the are Salvadoran, and their work helps their households stay afloat. It has always been a challenge to earn money to buy food for their children, and with the constant rise in the price of staples over the past year, the impact on all of them is the same: in order to eat, they must forgo other purchases, while not getting the same amount or quality of food as they did only a year ago.

The difficult reality

The macroeconomics of the rising price of staples are complex, but its effect on the lives of three women interviewed by Oxfam America is simple: they feel it every day.

For María Antonia León, or “Toñita”, life has never been easy. She remembers a time when she earned $3 to $4 a day selling tamales, pastries and snacks from her food cart and was able to buy weekly staples to feed her family of five. With this income, she could get six pounds of beans, half a pound of cheese, half a pound of cream, four pounds of rice, eggs, a chicken, and other basics.

“Before, with $20, I was able to fill a shopping cart. Now I can’t… I spend $40 and it’s not enough. I can’t even fill a shopping basket because everything is so expensive. Beans are $2.50, and cooking oil for 15 days is $2. We just can’t manage. This current crisis is really tough,” says Toñita. She doesn’t know how she will find the money to buy shoes or clothes.

Alternatives that help

But Toñita has now found a way to provide her family with nourishing food: Inspired by Saving for Change, she has started a garden and is raising chickens for their eggs. Saving for Change is an Oxfam program that encourages women to use the capital generated through their savings groups to participate in projects that help them achieve a sustainable livelihood. One such project seeks to promote women’s production capacity, entrepreneurial, and self-reliance skills by helping them establish vegetable gardens.

With her garden, Toñita has a new means to feed her family and avoid paying the high prices at the market. The cucumbers, radishes, tomatoes, peppers, cabbage, and mustard greens she is growing are providing her family with the vitamins and proteins they weren’t getting before. And now she is teaching other women in her community how to do the same thing. The best part is she sells her extra produce at below market prices to her neighbors facing similar difficulties.

Health and other things pushed aside

Ana Elizabeth Barrera works at a market in the city of Santa Tecla. She cooks and sells prepared foods, and therefore intimately knows the issue of rising food prices. Ana Elizabeth has seen the price of staples climb steadily over the past five years, but notes an accelerated rise of 60 to 70 percent in the past year, most notably with oil, rice, beans and sugar.

“Six to eight months ago I would invest $100 for oil, rice and other basics, and today I am spending between $150-160 which buys the same amount. Consequently, I have to raise my prices, which means that sales have gone down,” says Ana Elizabeth. She has lost 40 percent of her clientele and has had to let go one of her two employees.

Iris Madrid finds herself in a vulnerable position after losing her job a few weeks ago. Although her income was modest, it was stable and allowed her to buy basic items for her home and support her three children. Now, without a salary and facing rising food costs, she depends on her mother who sells beauty products via catalog.

“If there is detergent, then there is no soap. Or if we have soap, then we have no detergent. If we have beans, then we won’t be eating cheese. If we have cheese, we won’t be eating beans… It hurts because when you have children and they ask you for something, you can’t give it to them,” explains Iris. There are days when all they eat are the mangos from the tree outside her house.

Saving for Change is a program that is growing every day. Since its launch in 2005, it has grown to more than 488,000 members in five countries. The hope is that it will continue to grow and reach people like Ana Elizabeth and Iris, like it has reached Toñita.

]]> No publisher Caterina Monti Central America El Salvador GROW community finance equality for women food security global food crisis hunger women 2012-05-16T15:54:04Z Feature Story GROW: Food. Justice. Planet. http://www.oxfamamerica.org/publications/grow-food.-justice.-planet An overview of Oxfam's global GROW campaign Soon there'll be nine billion of us on the planet. All of us, our friends and our families, deserve enough to eat. The food, water, and land we all rely on could soon be used up. So more of the same is not enough. It's time to change the way we produce, consume, and share. GROW is the new campaign to do just that. Starting now. To grow for all. A better way of living. Shared solutions for a safer planet. So the next generation can join us at the table.

 

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]]> No publisher mborum GROW agriculture aid reform equality for women farmers food security global food crisis hunger land 2012-10-03T14:46:51Z Campaign Publication OXFAMExchange Spring 2008 http://www.oxfamamerica.org/publications/spring-2008 Raising a generation without fear The global food crisis is new and very real, but the seeds were planted long ago. Oxfam has long spoken out against poor policy decisions—like farm subsidies in wealthy countries and misguided trade policies—that have undermined small farmers in the developing world and have made a fertile ground for today's crisis. Yet the situation is far from hopeless. The global community must act swiftly. Unfortunately—as we've seen in other crises—that does not always happen. For example, this issue of OXFAMExchange features the humanitarian crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo that has been going on for over a decade. Increasingly Oxfam is a harbinger of such avoidable crises. We need your help in speaking out. Through effective advocacy, we can prevent unnecessary suffering. Together, we have the ability to influence our futures.

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]]> No publisher mborum Ghana oil, gas and mining equality for women Central America global food crisis El Salvador humanitarian relief Democratic Republic of Congo 2009-06-15T18:28:22Z Oxfam Exchange Oxfam in the Horn of Africa http://www.oxfamamerica.org/publications/oxfam-in-the-horn-of-africa Drought. Conflict. Low crop prices. These are among the realities that poor people across the Horn of Africa face on a daily basis. But with new tools for channeling water, building peace, and influencing markets, people are beginning to wrest control over their lives. Ethiopia is a country of contrasts—from the cool, wet highlands of the coffee farmers to the scorched pastures of the lowland herders. The challenges here and throughout the Horn remain enormous. Conflict plagues Sudan to the west and Somalia to the east. And widespread poverty traps people in lives of hardship. Since 2000, Oxfam America has been helping local communities survive conflict and marshal their natural resources in ways that strengthen families, villages, and whole regions.

]]> No publisher Oxfam America human rights equality for women hunger Sudan climate change livelihood Ethiopia Somalia peace and security agriculture livestock food security Darfur global food crisis internally displaced persons coffee water humanitarian relief women Horn of Africa disaster risk reduction 2009-06-09T20:42:44Z Brochure